How CRM Software Can Help Banks Thrive in a Bear Market

For the past decade, banks have made money by offering bundles of credit and savings solutions, often tied to sophisticated web banking tools. However, even at many banks and credit unions that offer powerful online banking, many customers still can't get their questions answered unless they take the time to visit a branch. Banking industry experts hope that sophisticated, new CRM applications can help banks deliver the kind of world class customer service that keeps accounts from moving.

I had my own experience recently with a bank that does online service very well. Having just moved from one corner of the country to another, I was wondering if my current bank was still a good fit for my business account. I enjoyed four branches convenient to my old home. Now, I need to drive about fifteen minutes out of my way just to get to one of their branded ATM's. Because 99% of my banking is handled electronically, I can do just fine without those touchpoints. However, I felt like I should at least be able to leverage my dilemma into reduced account fees.

By wandering through my own bank's website, I found a bewildering number of options. I could sign up for a new account and enjoy no monthly fees for a year, or I could even create an account at one of my current bank's recent acquisitions and lock in a no-fee account for life. Both of these options would require me to spend time setting up new direct deposit and withdrawal plans -- not worth the hassle. I may as well move to another bank, if that's the case.

So, I opened up a chat window to see if I might persuade a customer service rep to give me a break. And that's when the disconnect between customer service and banking CRM applications hit me like a steam train. The helpful rep regretted that she had no access to my bank's CRM software, so she could not verify my account history or even make any recommendations about how to reorganize my account. I can understand her concerns about identity theft and personal privacy. After all, I could be anybody in my person to person chat.

However, isn't this the same bank that has developed a battery of passcodes, picture locks, and SMS-enabled transaction keys to keep impostors from getting into my online banking account? If I can initiate a $5,000 payment to a vendor from a secure website, why can't I get a chat agent to look up my account records?

That's the dilemma that many banks face, according to industry analysts. Many banks are not equipped with policies and procedures to cover interactions over e-mail and chat. Furthermore, privacy policies are already so overloaded, that they might not even permit banks to include the transcripts of chat sessions and e-mail in company CRM systems. Therefore, at most banks, chat and e-mail remain in the province of the marketing department. Reps are happy to talk about the principles of products and services, but they cannot delve deeper into the specifics of an account, the same way that branch representatives can.

If my chat representative had been able to connect to my account, she could have locked me in as a customer for life. Now, I'm still tempted to go to the shiny new bank down the street. And in this new era when deposits are once again paramount to the health of a financial institution, a consolidated CRM system that includes account-focused chat can make the difference for customers like me.